(no subject)
Angie Dupuis
B Period
January 15, 2007
Should Nuclear Power be stopped in the United States?
Nuclear Energy has become a topic of fear, more than anything else, amongst the people of this country. It’s become the scapegoat of energy sources as its association to certain catastrophically tragic events in history has given it a scarred name. Aside from this, the general populous of the United States has been fed massive doses of biased, anti-nuclear information through such sources as images in the news media and even our every-day popular culture. I believe that Americans have the wrong idea about nuclear power and don’t know the real benefits of its use. Nuclear power should continue to exist in the United States.
Before learning the straight facts from the Frontline Nuclear Energy film, I was just as ill-informed about the pros and cons of nuclear energy as a vast majority of Americans. I too, biasly judged nuclear energy as a negative possibility because of the only things I had heard about it. I felt that it was incredibly accurate when in the film they referred to the effects of radiation as “an invisible death” to epitomize just what it is about nuclear energy that scares us all. We can’t see it, touch it, feel it, taste it, or smell it and yet it’s killing each of us a little bit every day. Cancer and genetic mutation are the most believed in and feared products of nuclear radiation. So now we’re powering our cities and towns with it? It’s definitely a scary thought when one doesn’t know all the details of the energy source and how it’s being used.
People don’t know that the radiation omitted from a single nuclear power plant is actually less than that of a traditional coal powered plant. The “dread factor” or the fear of a catastrophic disaster as described in the film, is what really turns people to oppose nuclear power. Such events are extremely rare as safety procedures and precautions are of the up most importance in such high-risk environments. 75% of France’s power is generated through nuclear power. Some say that this is because the French government doesn’t provide the French people with information about the hazards of nuclear energy. But other, more sensible sources say that the French people have much more trust and faith in their experts than the American people. No one in the United States has ever been injured or killed from a nuclear power related incident. It’s all hype. The number of deaths caused by gas and electric powered energy sources far surpasses that of the nuclear sources.
Though it is quite expensive and the resources only last a limited number of years, nuclear energy is beneficial as it is one of the safer and environmentally friendly forms of energy that we have available to us. Unlike other forms of energy which heave heavy amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere, nuclear energy harnesses the nuclear energy which is then used to create a clean, steam generated power source. But like every good thing in this world, it does create some form of waste that we must find a way to deal with. Some countries have been trying to recycle their nuclear waste but the U.S. finds the process to be too risky. The United States has been looking into storage possibilities for the waste instead. Controversial sites such as Yucca Mountain in New Mexico have been selected as possible storage sites for such waste. The idea is to tunnel down deep into the earth to store the waste which is already in giant steel casks. It is a shame that there is still no clear solution to the nuclear waste problem because the generation of nuclear power, what with its safety and cleanliness attributes, seems to be such a beneficial source of energy for the United States.
B Period
January 15, 2007
Should Nuclear Power be stopped in the United States?
Nuclear Energy has become a topic of fear, more than anything else, amongst the people of this country. It’s become the scapegoat of energy sources as its association to certain catastrophically tragic events in history has given it a scarred name. Aside from this, the general populous of the United States has been fed massive doses of biased, anti-nuclear information through such sources as images in the news media and even our every-day popular culture. I believe that Americans have the wrong idea about nuclear power and don’t know the real benefits of its use. Nuclear power should continue to exist in the United States.
Before learning the straight facts from the Frontline Nuclear Energy film, I was just as ill-informed about the pros and cons of nuclear energy as a vast majority of Americans. I too, biasly judged nuclear energy as a negative possibility because of the only things I had heard about it. I felt that it was incredibly accurate when in the film they referred to the effects of radiation as “an invisible death” to epitomize just what it is about nuclear energy that scares us all. We can’t see it, touch it, feel it, taste it, or smell it and yet it’s killing each of us a little bit every day. Cancer and genetic mutation are the most believed in and feared products of nuclear radiation. So now we’re powering our cities and towns with it? It’s definitely a scary thought when one doesn’t know all the details of the energy source and how it’s being used.
People don’t know that the radiation omitted from a single nuclear power plant is actually less than that of a traditional coal powered plant. The “dread factor” or the fear of a catastrophic disaster as described in the film, is what really turns people to oppose nuclear power. Such events are extremely rare as safety procedures and precautions are of the up most importance in such high-risk environments. 75% of France’s power is generated through nuclear power. Some say that this is because the French government doesn’t provide the French people with information about the hazards of nuclear energy. But other, more sensible sources say that the French people have much more trust and faith in their experts than the American people. No one in the United States has ever been injured or killed from a nuclear power related incident. It’s all hype. The number of deaths caused by gas and electric powered energy sources far surpasses that of the nuclear sources.
Though it is quite expensive and the resources only last a limited number of years, nuclear energy is beneficial as it is one of the safer and environmentally friendly forms of energy that we have available to us. Unlike other forms of energy which heave heavy amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere, nuclear energy harnesses the nuclear energy which is then used to create a clean, steam generated power source. But like every good thing in this world, it does create some form of waste that we must find a way to deal with. Some countries have been trying to recycle their nuclear waste but the U.S. finds the process to be too risky. The United States has been looking into storage possibilities for the waste instead. Controversial sites such as Yucca Mountain in New Mexico have been selected as possible storage sites for such waste. The idea is to tunnel down deep into the earth to store the waste which is already in giant steel casks. It is a shame that there is still no clear solution to the nuclear waste problem because the generation of nuclear power, what with its safety and cleanliness attributes, seems to be such a beneficial source of energy for the United States.